->''"Turtles count it off!''\\''ONE!''\\''Live by the code of the martial arts''\\''TWO!''\\''Never fight unless someone else starts''\\''THREE!''\\''Always stick together no matter what''\\''FOUR!''\\''If all else fails then it's time to kick butt!"''

The second animated series starring Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's characters, produced by [[FourKidsEntertainment 4Kids Entertainment]] under the direction of Lloyd Goldfine, with supervision by Laird and additional funding and input by toymaker Playmates. Often nicknamed "TMNT 2k3" by fans, and designed to be more faithful to the [[Comicbook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage original comic book]] and more serious than the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 previous cartoon]], it translated most of the original's storylines faithfully, [[InternalHomage often directly recreating issues as episodes,]] while creating its own additions to the TMNT mythos.

The basic story is familiar: The Shredder kills Hamato Yoshi; Splinter, his rat, escapes; ooze from a canister labeled "T.C.R.I." falls on some turtles and eventually himself. All five are mutated, and Splinter takes it upon himself to train them in the martial arts. Eventually, the turtles fight The Shredder; along the way meet Casey Jones and April O'Neil, who become their comrades. They have many different adventures. However, the differences in stories soon become apparent. The Shredder is now [[spoiler: a thousand year-old alien posing as a human]]. Karai is now his adopted daughter. New characters such as hulking gangster Hun and government agent Bishop keep things interesting.

Although spurned by a segment of fans of the old show who found it to be too different (which itself is rather ironic, given the 1987 series was a vast difference from the original source material), the series was generally well received (something of an aberration among 4Kids works), particularly for its long-term story arcs, clever use of the mythology, aversion of tropes like StatusQuoIsGod and ThouShaltNotKill, and strong characterization. Memorable episodes included "The Big Brawl", a TournamentArc guest-starring characters from Stan Sakai's ''UsagiYojimbo''; "Same as it Never Was", a BadFuture tale featuring the turtles' "final" battle with the Shredder; and the 100th episode, "The Tale of Master Yoshi", a WholeEpisodeFlashback focusing entirely on Hamato Yoshi and his doomed love, Tang Shen.

Then, after four seasons, trouble. Thanks to ExecutiveMeddling by all parties, the showrunners decided to skip the show's already-produced fifth season (which continued a cliff-hanger set up in the fourth) and continued straight into the sixth, which heavily re-tooled the cartoon, changing the series' setting, supporting cast, tone, and art style. The new season, titled ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fast Forward'' featured the turtles stuck in the future year of 2105, where they befriended Cody Jones, the billionaire great-grandson of April and Casey. The fifth season, on the other hand, would eventually air after season six had finished, promoted as a series of "Lost Episodes".

But that wasn't the end of it. During production of the show's seventh season, a 10-episode follow-up to ''Fast Forward'', the decision was made to scrap it and retool the series again. After several battles to determine what the new direction of the show would be, the program more or less returned to the previous status quo. [[ScrewedByTheLawyers Due to Nickelodeon's acquisition of]] ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', the seventh season, titled ''TMNT: Back to the Sewer'', ended up being the series' last, and ended with the wedding of the series' main couple, April and Casey.

However, the series' true finale would not occur until ''TurtlesForever'', a movie in which turtles team up with other incarnations of each other in a mad scramble to save the entire multiverse. Created as a celebration of the franchise's twenty-fifth year, it aired for the first time November 21, 2009.

After a three-year hiatus, the ''TMNT'' franchise [[BackFromTheDead returned]] [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012 to television in 2012]], courtesy of the turtles' [[Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} new owners]]. That show remains in production to this day.

For more details on the ''TMNT'' franchise in general, and links to its other incarnations, visit the ''TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' page. For a list of some of the characters in the series, and the tropes that apply to them, visit the franchise [[Characters/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles character page]]. There's also a [[Recap/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 recap page]].

! This show provides examples of:* AbsenteeActor: Raph, Don, and Mikey are absent in season 4's ''Dragons Brew'' and in ''Back to the Sewers'', Leo and Don are absent in ''Super Power Struggle''. * AbortedArc: ''Fast Forward's'' Darius Dun arc, which was set aside when the show was retooled for its seventh season.** Another one comes from the Rat King's episode end, which clearly indicated he was going to return, but it never happened. Closest he ever came to returning was watching April and Casey's wedding in the final episode.*** The Shredder War. Hinted at in the very ''first episodes'' of Back to the Sewer, it seemed like the entire series was moving towards a three way war between three incarnations of the Shredder (Including Cyber Shredder, introduced in Back to the Sewer, and the previous two from previous seasons), but the show ended after the wedding of Casey and April, leaving this entire plot point, which seemed to be the entire driving point for the series and which had been established from the word go simply never materialized.** Neither T9581 of "Dragon's Brew" nor the EldritchAbomination [[spoiler: who was the real founder of New York]] from "The Darkness Within" ever appeared again, despite the endings of their respective episodes implying they would.* ActionGirl: Several. Probably the most notable example is April O'Neil* ActuallyIAmHim: The plot of "The Ancient One".* AdaptationDyeJob: Splinter's fur is turned gray for this series.* AdaptationExpansion: "The Search for Splinter"/"Turtles in Space"/"Secret Origins"; "Sons of the Silent Age".* ADayInTheLimelight: Several.** "City At War": For the Foot Elite, who are now the leaders of the Foot following the Shredder's most recent defeat.** "The Trouble With Augie": The titular Uncle Augie finally makes his debut after April's been searching for him.** "The Real World, Part One": For Usagi and Gen.** "Hun on the Run": Guess.** "Aliens Among Us": Bishop.** "Insane in the Membrane": Stockman.** "Hunted" and "Good Genes, Part One": Leatherhead.** "Zixxth Sense": Torbin Zixx.** "Incredible Shrinking Serling": Another guess.* AdultFear: "Exodus", where the four turtles and Splinter [[NoHoldsBarredBeatDown nearly lose their lives to Shredder]] starts Leonardo's downward spiral into {{Jerkass}} {{Knight Templar}} Territory, it is only by the episode The Ancient One that we learn why. It is quite the TearJerker.--->'''Leonardo''' ''I did the best I could! There wasn't anymore I could have done!''* AdventureRebuff: Splinter tries this several times, unsuccessfully.-->'''Splinter''': How many times have I told you not to sneak out to the surface?-->'''Michelangelo''': This month?-->'''Donatello''': Five hundred and twelve, actually.* ADayInTheLimelight: Each of the turtles, Splinter, and even Casey and April get their own episodes every now and again.* TheAdjectivalSuperhero: "The Unconvincing Turtle Titan"* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: Happens 3 times, with each of the Turtles' Lairs getting destroyed. * AlmostKiss: Between Casey and April, in "Modern Love: The Return of Nano"* AlternateUniverse: Several, although the most notable is probably the one shown in "Same as It Never Was".* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: In the Japanese version, the show has several opening and ending themes. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-BYkTaGc0Y All]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi1V-1u0Db0 of]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrICSsUrH5g&feature=related them]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSph2ksjTTQ&feature=related can]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daSIk3jPGcQ&feature=related be]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq_3jBzqtFM&feature=related found]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBnMI3Qse8k&feature=related here]].* AmusementPark: Most of "Modern Love's" plot takes place on Coney Island.* AncientTradition: The Utrom Guardians and the Ninja Tribunal.* AnimalThemedSuperbeing: While the original Turtle Titan--Michelangelo--isn't quite this, his successor, the Turtle Titan of 2105, is the "Animal Alias" version of this trope.* {{Animesque}}: Slightly. * AnimeThemeSong: Three, in the Japanese Dub.* AnotherDimension: Several: The Battle Nexus, Usagi's Earth, etc.* AnotherStoryForAnotherTime: In the third episode, Splinter tells April about how he and the Turtles were mutated. When she asked how they learned martial arts, he tells her "that is a story for another time".* AntiVillain: Several. Most notable examples include Bishop (who is a WellIntentionedExtremist), Darius Dun's original minions (who only obey him because he is keeping them as slaves), Karai (who sees the Turtles as {{Worthy Opponent}}s), and the list goes on.** Baxter Stockman is shown to be greedy and materialistic, come "Insane In The Membrane," we see a few more sympathetic qualities, mainly coming from his childhood.* ApocalypticLog: Twice: The first occurs in the episode "Notes From the Underground pt. 1", while the second occurs in "The Trouble With Augie".* ArbitrarySkepticism: Michelangelo is the first to encounter Leatherhead, and when he tells them, the rest of the Turtles disbelieve him. At this point in the series, they have already encountered/know the existence of ninjas, criminal organizations, superheroes, cryptids, aliens, and mystical forces, yet a giant crocodile (mutated in the same way they were) is unbelievable.* {{Area 51}}: The site of one of Agent Bishop's bases.* ArmsDealer: Ruffington, Darius Dun.* ArtEvolution: Three times, for ''Fast Forward'', ''Back to the Sewer'', and again for ''TurtlesForever''.* ATeamFiring: Occurs often with both lasers and bullets. One heroic example would be in Same As It Never Was: [[spoiler: Donny sprays the Shredder's giant exosuit with the two [[GatlingGood Gatling guns]] on his own exosuit's shoulders, and not ''one'' of the bullets hits Ch'rell, who is completely exposed in this particular exosuit.]]* ArtInitiatesLife: Kirby's crystal.* AtopAMountainOfCorpses: Raph can be seen in this pose in one of the images in "Identity Crisis".* AscendedExtra: The Purple Dragons, the Foot Mystics.* TheAsteroidThicket: In "Turtles in Space Part 5: Triceraton Wars".** Another one appears in ''Exodus'' part two, as Ch'Rell is exiled to an ice asteroid amongst hundreds if not thousands of others in a massive ring of them around an alien planet. It's also where he's recovered from in ''Turtles Forever''.* {{Atlantis}}: Or Y'lyntis, as it's called here; it plays a part in several subplots.* AvengingTheVillain: Karai's motivation during the fourth and fifth seasons.* BackForTheFinale: "Wedding Bells and Bytes" features appearances by Karai and Bishop, as well as a slew of recurring characters who had not been seen in two seasons.* {{Badass}}: Pretty much every fighter in the series.** Most notable are Bishop, Splinter and the Shredder.* BadassBookworm: Donnie, Cody, and Serling to name a few. Professor Honeycutt even shows shades of this; look closely and you'll see he's the ''first'' to attack the Foot invading Casey and April's wedding.* BadassLongcoat: Leonardo, in "Same As It Never Was". The Guardians. Bishop typically sports one as well, and even Hun had one at one point.* BadBoss: all incarnations of the Shredder in this series, minus maybe Karai. And even she doesn't exactly display a nice attitude toward the Five Foot Mystics.** Darius Dun too has a tendency to be a particularly awful boss.** Let's not overlook Baxter Stockman, who fully intended to murder April when she discovered the Mousers' true purpose. Sure, he's almost never in a position of authority again in the series, but this is pretty bad, and it is a small piece of a character [[InsufferableGenius so]] [[SmugSnake generally]] [[TheStarscream unlikeable]] that him [[EyeScream being]] [[BodyHorror increasingly]] [[FateWorseThanDeath mutilated]] over the series' run ( ironically as [[DisproportionateRetribution punishment]] for [[YouHaveFailedMe repeatedly failing the Shredder]]) [[KickTheSonOfABitch elicits little in the way of sympathy.]]* BadFuture: "Same as it Never Was".* TheBadGuyWins: Bishop has a tendency to do this, even when things don't go exactly as planned. He managed to obtain the turtle D.N.A. samples and protect Earth in the Triceraton Invasion Arc, succeeded in securing the E.P.F.'s funding in "Aliens Among Us", and bluffed his way into getting a cure for the mutant outbreak and the Heart of Tengu in "Good Genes".** Other examples include:*** "The Shredder Strikes Back" where Leo is beaten to near death at the hands of he Foot Elite and April's shop is burned down. *** "Exodus" is an interesting case. The turtles and Splinter are[[CurbStompBattle beaten pretty badly]]. Their only option is to blow up Shredder's Starship and everyone on board, ''including themselves''. At the last second, [[spoiler: the Utroms arrive and save everyone with the Utrom Shredder being exiled on an icy asteroid never to be seen or heard again until Turtles Forever.]] *** "Scion of the Shredder" has Karai seemingly killing Master Splinter and all but one of the Turtles (Leo), as well as destroying their lair. [[spoiler: By the next episode it's revealed that they all survived, however]]*** "The Beginning of the End" ends with the Foot Mystics seemingly killing the Ninja Tribunal and their human acolytes while escaping with the Tengu Shredder's helmet, gauntlet, and sarcophagus. * BaitAndSwitchCredits: "Tempus Fugit", the first episode of ''Back to the Sewer'', which uses ''Fast Forward's'' opening instead.* BashBrothers: Raph and Casey.* BatmanColdOpen: Occurs in several of the episodes featuring super-heroes, such as the one introducing Raptarr and both Nobody episodes.* BatmanGambit: Mercenary Torbin Zixx's stock in trade.* BattleCouple: April and Casey, eventually.* BeneathTheEarth: The Y'lyntian colony, among other things.* BerserkButton: Did we mention how much Raph hates bugs? In "April's Artifact", he gets pushed too far after recovering from the paralysis given to him by one of the hornets, declaring in a PunctuatedForEmphasis fashion that bugs must pay.** Don't ever threaten April when Casey's around.** Unless you want Hun to rudely tell you to leave him alone, do not persist with him that he placed an order. The result? Hun: (Growling) "GO AWAY! WE! PLACED! NO! ORDER!"* BigBad: The Shredder is this, in all his forms, though the most overarching villain of the series is Ch'Rell, the [[spoiler: Utrom Shredder]].** BigBadDuumvirate: Darius Dun and Sh'Okanabo, in ''Fast Forward''.** BigBadEnsemble: In the third season, the Foot and the Earth Protection Force. In the fourth season, after [[spoiler: Ch'Rell's final defeat]], Hun, Bishop, and later [[spoiler: Karai, who dons the Shredder's mantle]] fill this role.* BiggerBad: An argument could be made for the Tengu Shredder, who is the original Shredder, and influenced Ch'Rell and Karai well into the present day.* BigCreepyCrawlies: In "April's Artifact" and in season 4's mutant outbreak arc.* BigDamnHeroes: Raphael (with some help from Splinter) in the "City At War" arc.* BigGood: The Ninja Tribunal in the fifth season.* BigNo: Used many times by just about every significant character* BittersweetEnding: Quite a few episodes have this. ** In "The King" Donatello enters another world created by a Jack Kirby {{Expy}}. At the end, the portal they used to enter the world begins to shrink. Don makes it back to the real world in time, but Kirby doesn't. Just before the portal disappears, a paper airplane flies out where Kirby gives Don the message "Don, life at best is bittersweet. Take care of yourself, Kirby." ** The "Return to New York" trilogy ends with The Shredder's defeat and the turtles have successfully sabotaged the Foot HQ but Splinter has somehow disappeared. ** Nano's first 2 episodes end this way since the turtles feel guilty about killing someone who has the mindset of a child and didn't know any better. Nano does eventually get a happy ending though. ** "What a Croc!" ends with the Turtles' old lair caving in on Leatherhead and Mikey pities him for being alone. ** "Rogue in the House" ends with Zog's HeroicSacrifice in attempting to take down the Shredder with him on-board a flaming ship. It's made worse when Shredder survives and Zog doesn't. ** "April's Artifact" allows the turtles and April to escape the world of giant hornets, and finds her long-lost uncle's compass and notebook. April vows to find him someday [[spoiler: and she does in season 4]]. ** "Same as it Never Was" ends with the future Utrom Shredder killed, but Donatello has to witness his brothers die first and in the end, April is the only main character still alive. Thankfully, Don's return to the present ensures that this future never happens. ** The season 3 finale, "Exodus" ends with the turtles and Splinter beaten rather badly and performing a HeroicSacrifice, but they're saved at the last second and the Utroms sentence the Utrom Shredder to exile on an icy asteroid where he remains for the rest of the series until Turtles Forever. ** "Tale of Master Yoshi" depicts Yoshi murdering his friend and adoptive brother Yukio Mashimi out of revenge for murdering Tang Shen and for telling the Foot where the Utroms were hiding. In the end, Yoshi has to leave Japan and move to North America to continue serving the Utroms. ** In "Tempus Fugit", the turtles finally get to return to the 21st century, but thanks to Viral's interference, Splinter gets trapped in cyber space in the process. * BlackSheep: Sid, Casey's cousin. Also Casey's grandfather. In fact, April remarks that Casey's grandmother is probably the only ''white'' sheep of the family.* BlindAndTheBeast: Occurs between Raphael and an old woman named Mrs. Morrison, in a story adapted from the original comic book.* BloodlessCarnage* BodyHorror: Baxter Stockman in "Insane in the Membrane".* BodySurf: Jammerhead, in "Invasion of the Body Jacker".* BonusMaterial: The various supplementary shorts produced by 4Kids.* BookEnds: In "Aliens Among Us", Bishop corners Don and tries to shoot him with a gauntlet-mounted gun. In "Good Genes Part 1", he tries the exact same thing [[spoiler: when Don, who's been mutated for a second time, starts tearing up Area 51.]] Fitting, considering "Aliens Among Us" sets up the Outbreak arc, and "Good Genes Part 1" is the first part of the resolution. * BorrowedCatchphrase: Serling does it for "It's Ninja Time" in "Turtle X-Tinction", the turtles do it for their original toon counterparts in ''TurtlesForever''.* BowAndSwordInAccord: Splinter is armed in this manner in the first episode of the "Exodus" two-parter.* BrainUploading: Professor Honeycutt, The Shredder.* BreakingOutTheBoss: The Street Phantoms do this to Jammerhead at the beginning of "Enter the Jammerhead".* BrokenAesop: The whole message of an episode is that nuclear power plants are bad. Because the plant was leaking toxic waste, the Turtles destroyed it to save some FishPeople's eggs. In reality, destroying the plant (with an explosion no less) will probably make things far much worse, as it will scatter the toxic waste everywhere. The real kicker is that the plant was already in the process of being dismantled and the eggs could have been easily moved elsewhere.* BroomstickQuarterstaff: Don does this in the episode "The Big House".* BurialInSpace: [[spoiler: Prof. Honeycutt]].* BusFullOfInnocents: Occurs in "City at War, pt. 2"* ButtMonkey: If anybody's going to cross-dress, get smacked upside the head, pummeled by his brothers, insulted, or any form of bad luck for comedic effect, it's Mikey. Casey also gets a fair amount of this in the second and third seasons, overlapping with BadassDecay; and Serling gets relegated to this role when he is introduced in the sixth season. * ByTheEyesOfTheBlind: The episode "Fathers and Sons" features a demon that can only be seen by the innocent, thanks to an amulet it wears.* CainAndAbel: Hamato Yoshi and Yukio Mashimi.* CallBack: "Hacking Stockman" has Leo directly reference the "City at War" arc, and-- in case that wasn't clear enough-- there's also Don's response to him, which is oddly similar to Raphael's from "City at War"-->'''Don:''' Sorry, but it's not my problem.-->''Compared to''-->'''Raph:''' It's not our fight, Leo!* CanonForeigner: Lots.* CanonImmigrant: Hun, the Battle Nexus, the Mystic Ninja's look, the Shredder's armor and Bishop.* CastHerd* CatchAFallingStar: Karai does the falling, Leo does the rescuing in "Mission of Gravity".* CatchPhrase: "It's ninja time!" (Fast Forward only) "Goongala!" (Casey) "None of you will leave here alive!" (the Shredder), "Oh, crud." (Hun).* ChangedMyMindKid: The climax to "City at War, pt. 3."* CharacterDevelopment: Really beautifully put into the mix in season 4 where Leonardo becomes the best fighter of the bunch while trying and failing to master his anger and fear after being defeated and stabbed in season 3. Michelangelo finally grows up, begins to use his innate skills to his full potential, and proves his worth as a thoughtful member of the team.* CharlesAtlasSuperPower: The Ninja Tribunal eventually reached godhood in this manner.* ChekhovsBoomerang* ChekhovsGun: Quite a few fired between "Adventures in Turtle Sitting" and "Good Genes Part 1"-- notable examples include the tunnel to April's apartment-- introduced in "The Trouble with Augie"-- and Stockman's helicopter from "Insane in the Membrane". * ChekhovsGunman: Leatherhead; Zog.* TheChessmaster(s): The omniscient Ninja Tribunal.* ChildhoodFriendRomance: The Hamato Yoshi / Tang Shen / Yukio Mashimi triangle features both types. Yoshi and Shen are {{Victorious Childhood Friend}}s, leaving Mashimi as the [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend unlucky one]].* ChristmasEpisode: "The Christmas Aliens" Adapted from the Vol. 1 comic of the same name.* CityOfAdventure: NewYorkCity, of course.* ClipShow: "Reflections", also a RecapEpisode.* CloseCallHaircut: A variation of this occurs with Michelangelo's bandanna in "Return to New York"* ClothesMakeTheManiac: The Ring of Yin in the episode "The Engagement Ring."* ClothesMakeTheSuperman: The Green Mantle cape, which endows its wearers with several super-powers.* ClothingDamage: Occurs to April in the episode "April's Artifact," as an unexpected trip to the jungle ruins her outfit.* CloudCuckooLander: Mr. Marlin, and Triple Threat's yellow-hued head.* CombatPragmatist: Torbin Zixx is fond of using holograms to confuse his opponents (Raph falls for it every time). He lampshades it when he tells a Triceraton "You're ten times stronger than me, of course I'm going to fight smart!" Casey Jones outright admits that when he's outclassed he just starts fighting dirty.* CommLinks: The Shell Cells.* CompressedAdaptation: The original "City at War" arc had separate stories for the turtles, Splinter, April, and Casey. The cartoon adaptation excises all but the turtles'.* CompressedHair: Jammerhead, whose feet-tall hair can be easily concealed under his hood.* CompositeCharacter: The Shredder actually being the Utrom Ch'rell in some ways makes him this series' answer to Krang, as well as Oroku Saki. While WordOfGod says they tried to keep that similarity to a minimum throughout the show's run, ''Turtles Forever'' takes the idea and runs with it when they merge Dimension X technology with Utrom technology, giving him a Molecular amplification Exosuit that can grow to skyscraper size and transform into various weapons.* ConceptArtGallery: 4Kids' now-defunct TMNT blogs served as these.* ConservationOfNinjutsu: Both used and averted.** The Foot soldiers start out as the FinalBoss of the pilot, giving the Turtles a hard time, and remain a fairly consistent threat throughout the first season through skill and sheer numbers. Over the course of the series they gradually grow less effective, until midway through the fourth season, Karai is revealed to have trained them to be ''much'' deadlier. Just three wind Raphael down in an elevator. They remain more or less this deadly for the remainder of the series until Fast Forward.** The Foot Elite initially powerful enough to give Leo a vicious CurbStompBattle even when he'd already fought his way through Hun and the vast majority of the Foot. By the third season, they're a minor threat and are quickly taken out with one kick by Raph during the final battle of "Exodus, Part I", and then they're tossed around like rag dolls by Bishop. We don't get to see much of them after Karai's taking control, but if the regular mooks are as dangerous as they were, the Foot Elite must be worse tenfold.* {{Conspiracy Theorist}}s: The group [[FunWithAcronyms Humans Against The Extraterrestrials]].* ContinuityNod: "Adventures in Turtle Sitting" features April's basement apartment, which hadn't been seen or referenced since "The King," three seasons earlier. It even had the appropriate pieces of furniture in it, like Kirby's drawing desk. * ConvectionSchmonvection: Most notably in the episodes with the underground city.* ConvenientlyCellmates: The Turtles get a cell together when they are captured by the Triceratons. When Raphael gets in a fight in the mess hall, however, he is moved to another cell alone, so the others have to free him when they escape.* ConversationalTroping: A couple of times, but most notably in "Night of Sh'Okanabo", where Mikey lists every horror movie cliche in the book.* ConverseWithTheUnconscious: Pretty much the entire A-plot of "Tales of Leo."* [[CoolBigSis CoolBigSibling]]: April and Casey, who are 23 and 24, respectively, at the start of the series, are this to the teenaged turtles, who're supposed to 15 at the start of the series and about 18 or 19 at the end.* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Darius Dun, initially. The [[spoiler: Utrom]] Oroku Saki (and by extension, his heir Karai) are these as well. Baxter Stockman also was one before his body kept getting destroyed.* CreatorCameo: Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird occasionally appear as cops.* CripplingTheCompetition: Mephos, an Avian who was punished for crimes against his race by having the wings torn from his back and being forced to live as a human.* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: In Michelangelo's first centric episode, he becomes a superhero, saves another superhero, and during all this learns a lesson on why he's a ninja: because it's what he does best.** This is a running theme with Mikey. In "Touch and Go", Splinter tells him that he is the most naturally athletic of his brothers and he is crowned the winner of the Battle Nexus on a technicality (although with Leo's training, he wins outright in "Grudge Match").* CueTheSun: Instrumental in "The Freaks Come Out at Night" and "Day of Awakening".* CurbstompBattle: Several, though one of the most notable ones include the one the Shredder deals to the Turtles and Splinter in their [[spoiler: final]] battle. To hammer the point home, the Turtles are electrocuted, have bones broken, and Leo is ''impaled'' by Karai.* DarkerAndEdgier: As a whole, definitely more so than any previous adaptation, though still (somewhat) LighterAndSofter than the [[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage Mirage comics]].* DeadGuyJunior: Done twice with Zog.* DeadHatShot: Done with a nameless boat captain at the beginning of "Junklantis".* DeadlyDodging* DeadpanSnarker: Serling.* DealWithTheDevil: How C.F. Volpehart and the original Oroku Saki gained their wealth and powers, respectively.* {{Deconstruction}}: A minor one but in Samurai Tourist, Mikey--yes, ''Mikey''-- gives an accurate analysis as to why Leo takes the burden on being the leader: so that he lets his brothers be themselves.-->'''Mikey:''' I think you all [Donatello, Raphael and Casey] should just lay off the poor guy [Leonardo]. I mean, it can't be fun always being the responsible one. And we're the ones who really benefit: Raph's free not to think cause Leo does all the thinking for him, Don's free to dream, and I'm free to take it easy all because Leo's busy being responsible enough for all of us.* DeusExMachina: The turtles obtain several important victories thank to this.* DisasterDominoes: Accompanies the Turtles' arrival in 2105. They set off a series of traffic accidents, culminating in a truck going off the road (or rather, over the edge of it) and derailing a train.* DiscussedTrope: Mikey regularly references movies and comics in the course of the Turtles' adventures, remarking on what would happen if they were in said movie/comic* DisneyDeath* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Leonardo loses part of his shell after the Turtles' final battle with Ch'Rell in Exodus. The original name for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was "Shell Shock". Leonardo displays every single symptom of PTSD- so the injured shell is a metaphor for his psychiatric injury. None of the other Turtles get shell injuries- or PTSD.* DopeSlap: Michelangelo is frequently subjected to these.* DownerEnding: ** The "Shredder Strikes Back" two-parter ends with Leonardo [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beaten to near death]] and everyone else nearing exhaustion, forcing them to hide in April's storage closet. Shredder barricades the door, punctures a gas line, and activates a bomb. April's antique store is caught on fire and burns down. [[spoiler: But the next episode reveals that they escaped at the last minute.]] ** "Scion of the Shredder" has Karai becoming the new Shredder and destroying the Turtles' lair. The episode ends with the Turtles (save Leonardo) and Splinter dying while escaping the Foot. [[spoiler: Although the next episode shows that they're fine.]] ** There's also "Beginning of the End". The Tengu Shredder's Foot Mystics murder the Ninja Tribunal and the human acolytes [[spoiler:although the season finale reveals they survived]] and they escaped with all 3 of the Shredder's helmet, gauntlet, and sarcophagus. Splinter's quote at the end sums it up rather nicely: -->'''Splinter:''' They (the Ninja Tribunal and the other acolytes) have made the ultimate sacrifice. We cannot let it be in vain. -->'''Raphael:''' What about the heralds? Why the shell would they come here to New York City? -->'''Splinter:''' I do not know Raphael, but I do know what their victory today means. It means the end of the world begins here. --> For extra effect, some storm clouds gather and form the Tengu Shredder's helmet. * TheDragon: Hun, Karai, and Khan, to the Shredder.** Viral was Sh'Okanabo's Dragon in Fast Forward.* DragonAscendant: Karai, in season 4. When Hun finds out Oroku Saki is actually an alien named Ch'rell he leaves The Foot Clan, and does a complete makeover of The Purple Dragons, transforming them from simple street thugs into a veritable army that pulls off some very high risk & high reward theft jobs from Multinational Corporations & even the military. However come ''Turtles Forever'' after [[spoiler: he gets mutated into Slash]] he willingly decides to get DemotedToDragon & serve Ch'rell once again. Karai also reassumes her role as co-dragon in this movie finale** Viral in Back to the Sewer, until she is overpowered by the Cyber Shredder.* DramaticIrony: In "The Lesson", the turtles tell of a story about when they, as little turtle tots, tried to teach a kid how to fight. While they never know who it was, the audience finds out who it is: [[spoiler: it was Arnold "Casey" Jones.]]* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Occurs to Splinter several times, and once to the turtles.* DrillTank: The Turtle Tuneller.* TheDyingWalk: In the BadFuture episode "Same As It Never Was", [[spoiler:Karai kills Leo and then mortally wounds Raphael. Raph makes his way over to Leo's body so he can die at his brother's side.]]* EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion: Sh'Okanabo's invasion of Earth in "The Freaks Come Out at Night".** Notable averted in the season three six-part opener which portrays a large scale alien invasion whose effect was felt for the next two seasons.* EgomaniacHunter: Mr. Marlin.* EldritchAbomination: The monster from "The Darkness Within"** And the monster from "The Darkness Within", if one pays close attention, looks almost ''exactly'' like [[spoiler: Cthulhu, some people also guess that the thing ''is'' Cthulhu]].* ElementalRockPaperScissors: How Splinter defeats the Foot Mystics during their initial battle.* EliteMooks: The Foot Elite--it helps that there are [[ConservationOfNinjutsu only four of them]].* EnemyCivilWar: Season 2's "City at War" three-parter sees the Foot Clan, the Purple Dragons and the Mob battle for control of New York following the Shredder's supposed demise. Averted in Seasons 4 and 5, where despite a split between the Foot and the Purple Dragons, the two take no hostile action against each other. Played straight between the two again throughout ''Back to the Sewer'', though it only escalates into war during ''Hacking Stockman''.* EnemyMine: Several times, most notably in season 5 where the turtles join forces with the Foot, Purple Dragons and the Earth Protection Force to fight the season's Big Bad.** Every season has had at least 1 Enemy Mine team up. *** Season 1 has the turtles and Shredder working together to take down Stockman in his new cyborg armor during the first third of the episode "Return To New York Part 3". *** Season 2 has the turtles and Casey working with Karai to end the war between the Foot Ninjas, Purple Dragons and Mob in "City at War Part 3". *** Season 3 had the turtles and Karai working together to prevent Shredder from removing an anti gravity machine left behind by the Triceratons to prevent the city of Beijing from crashing down to Earth as well as saving the city in the process in "Mission of Gravity" and the turtles [[TeethClenchedTeamwork help Hun]] save Karai from Bishop in "Hun on the Run". *** YMMV on Season 4 but the turtles need a cure for Don after he had been mutated into a mindless, savage monster and ask Bishop if he has one. Bishop agrees to hand over a cure provided the turtles run an errand for him (by stealing a pendant from Karai). *** ''Fast Forward'' had the turtles and Sh'Okanabo working together to send the Shredder back to the 21st century. *** ''Back to the Sewers'' had Stockman contact Donatello telling him to defeat Cyber Shredder in order to save the other turtles in "Hacking Stockman". Another one occurs when Hun (although only the viewers see it) teamed up with the turtles to defeat a cheater in an online game in "Superquest". *** Finally, in ''Turtles Forever'', the turtles persuade Hun to give them his technology to stop the Utrom Shredder from wiping out the TMNT multiverse. The final battle depicts 12 turtles, Splinter, Karai, 80's Shredder and Krang working together to foil the Utrom Shredder. * EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Every Battle Nexus Native. Notable examples include the Daimyo (a title in pre-modern Japan given to a subordinate of the shogun that controlled vast areas of land), Gyoji (a sumo referee) and The Ultimate Ninja/ The Daimyo's Son* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Ch'rell and Karai.** The Ultimate Ninja showed true remorse and concern for his father in "The Real World, Part 2" - suggesting banishing him rather than killing him. [[spoiler:As the Ultimate Ninja later becomes TakenForGranite, he genuinely asks his father for forgiveness.]]* EvilCounterpart: The Sliver is this to Master Splinter, although he was only in one episode and Mikey's the only main character who meets him. * EvilFormerFriend: The original Shredder to the Ninja Tribunal. Also Mephos to Raptarr* EvilIsDumb: Dark Raph and Mikey* EvilKnockoff: Baxter Stockman's Turtle-bot.* EvilLaugh: The Shredder, especially when he gets hold of the Sword of Tengu. ** Savanti Romero has a particularly epic one.* EvilOverlord: Savanti Romero; The Demon Shredder.* EvilPowerVacuum: Occurs after the Shredder is defeated at the end of the "Return to New York".* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The main Foot HQ.* EvolvingCredits: In season 4.* ExpositoryThemeTune* {{Expy}}: The Justice Force for the Franchise/{{Justice League|of America}}; and particularly Silver Sentry (Franchise/{{Superman}}), Nobody (Franchise/{{Batman}}), Zippy Lad (TheFlash), Green Mantle (Franchise/GreenLantern) and Raptarr ({{Hawkman}}).* TheExtremistWasRight: Agent Bishop's mission to protect Earth from alien invasion. Also in "Insane in the Membrane", he's right that Stockman's new body will decompose like all the aliens he used in his fake alien invasion.* {{Eyedscreen}}* FallOfTheHouseOfCards: Occurs to Mikey early in "Scion of the Shredder", foreshadowing the [[spoiler: impending destruction of the lair and many of the Turtles' prized possessions.]]* FamilyFriendlyFirearms: Used in the first few seasons of the show, although real guns started showing up as the show got more violent. Some of the FFF's were justified by being left over Triceraton tech.* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: One of the most notable was in "Same as it Never Was", which didn't just feature [[spoiler: ''all'' of the Turtles of that dimension being brutally killed by Karai and the Karai-bots]], it also featured [[spoiler: the Shredder getting a ''drill'' thrown into his Utrom face and being utterly obliterated]], all shown on-screen.* FashionableAsymmetry: Several Purple Dragons, particularly in the first and third incarnations of the group. The Shredder's gauntlet also makes him qualify.* FeatherFlechettes: Mephos' cybernetic wings allow him to pull this off.* FinalBattle: Three: The climax to "Return to New York" in season 1, "Exodus" in season 3, and "Enter the Dragons" in season 5.* FindTheCure: In "Good Genes."* FingerlessGloves: Angel. Several Purple Dragons. Season 7 Casey. Season 7 Hun.* {{Fingore}}: Occurs to Baxter Stockman in "Insane in the Membrane."* FirstNameBasis: Even after accepting her into their family, Splinter persists in politely calling April "Miss O'Neil." He does not switch to calling her "April" until later in the series.** Dr. Chaplin and the Mayor of New York refer to the Shredder as "Mr. Saki" (Shredder's human identity being Oroku Saki), but in Japanese, the family name comes first, and given name comes last, the reverse of most Western naming traditions. This could be justified in that the characters just did not know better (they were American, not Japanese), and the Shredder was not all that concerned with correcting such mistakes.** The turtles and Splinter are all shown to be named in a similar fashion (Hamato Splinter, Hamato Leonardo, etc.) due to Splinter's original home being Japan when he was originally owned by Hamato Yoshi before they made their way to New York. Thus, Usagi and Leonardo take ''impressive'' liberties from a Japanese perspective, as Usagi calls Leo 'Leonardo-san' more often than not, but does also refer to him without any honorific at all, while Leo consistently refers to Usagi solely by his name. This is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by the fact that the two became very fast friends, and Usagi even goes to the point of calling Leo ''brother'' during ''The Real World'' parts one and two.* FishOutOfTemporalWater: The turtles in ''Fast Forward'', and Viral (albeit for a very short time) and Serling in ''Back to the Sewer''.* FishPeople: The fish people from "Sons of the Silent Age."* FiveBadBand: The Foot Clan in the third season, more or less.** BigBad: Shredder** TheDragon: Karai** TheBrute: Hun** TheEvilGenius: Chaplin** TheDarkChick: Stockman, who enjoys his own agenda too much and later becomes the SixthRangerTraitor* FiveManBand: The Turtles and their allies** TheHero: Leonardo** TheLancer: Michelangelo** TheSmartGuy: Donatello** TheBigGuy: Raphael** TheChick: April** TheSixthRanger: Casey** TheMentor: Splinter* FloatingContinent: Beijing, China, from "Space Invaders pt. 2" to "Mission of Gravity."* FlyingBrick: Silver Sentry* ForgottenFirstMeeting: Casey and the turtles in "The Lesson."* ForgottenPhlebotinum: Renet and Lord Simultaneous are completely and inexplicably absent from the ''Fast Forward'' season, where the Turtles are stuck in the future — because if they'd appeared they could instantly have fixed The Turtles' predicament.* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The rational leader Leonardo is Melancholic, the calm gadgeteer Donatello is Phlegmatic, the goofball Michelangelo is Sanguine, and the short-tempered Raphael is Choleric.* FridgeLogic: Rare in-universe example during ''Fast Forward.'' When the turtles find what appears to be April's journal, from which Cody learned about the turtles, they all sneak in to read it late at night. However, as they get to the end of Raphael's story, they notice contradictions between the story and what they already know about recent history. Just then, Cody and Splinter enter and reveal that they had replaced the journal with a fake to teach the turtles a lesson.* FusionDance: "Ultimate Drako", a combination of Drako and The Ultimate Ninja.* TheFuture: 2105* FutureBadass: Leonardo, Raphael, April, and especially Mikey, in "Same as it Never Was".* FutureMeScaresMe: One episode of the Fast Forward season has a future journal suggesting that robot butler serling might be Donatello's future self. Donnie and his brothers are grossed out by the idea. [[spoiler: Fortunately, the journal is a fake set to discourage the turtles from trying to learn too much about the future]].%%* GambitPileup: The events in the Ninja Tribunal arc.%%* GambitRoulette: Executed by the Ninja Tribunal in order to kill the demon Shredder.* GenreSavvy: The Shredder has his moments, including moments where he [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy reaches the much more dangerous variety]].* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: All.The.Time. Aside from the remarkable amount of violence and death, the writers seem to sneak subtle jokes in whenever they can. Watch the episode "Same As It Never Was" and take a nap afterwards. Twenty dollars says you don't have a nightmare.** In a Halloween episode, involving horror movies, Michelangelo comments on how people who "have fun" in these movies generally get killed. [[DeathBySex Just what kind of fun is he talking about?]]* GladiatorGames: The season 2 episode "The Arena" revolves around these.* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Everyone wearing the Shredder helmet.* GoingByTheMatchbook: The turtles track down a trio of Texas mercenaries this way.* GondorCallsForAid: "Enter the Dragons", the 5th season finale. The Turtles recruit the help of the Ninja Tribunal acolytes, Agent Bishop, Baxter Stockman, the Purple Dragons, and the Justice Force.* GoneToTheFuture: Apparently occurs to Don in "Same as it Never Was".* GoodColorsEvilColors: A very subtle one occurs with Karai in Season 4. Normally she wears pink lipstick, but for "Prodigal Son" she wears red lipstick, symbolizing her crossover into evil when she believed she's killed the Turtles. After Leo defeats her the next time we see her she's gone back to the pink lipstick, showing she's not so evil and such a threat anymore.* GoodFeelsGood: Discovered by Leonardo's clone in the ''Fast Forward'' Episode "D.N.A. is ThickerThanWater".* GoodIsNotNice: Casey in his debut episode. He gets better though. ** There's also the Ninja Tribunal. They don't care too much if the Turtles or their new human friends are injured on a mission. Splinter even calls them heartless monsters and says they're not any better than the Tengu Shredder's Foot Mystics. They do mellow out a little bit when Chikara compliments Raph, Don, Joy, and Tora for passing a training session and compliments Leo when his dragon avatar destroys all the nezumi guarding the Shredder's gauntlet. Hisomi also smiles when Mikey successfully focuses his chi energy, develops superspeed and has a brief friendly race. * GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: The Earth Protection Force.* GrandFinale: ''TurtlesForever''.* GrandTheftMe: The plot of "Hacking Stockman".* GratuitousJapanese: Splinter will occasionally use this, as will the characters from ''UsagiYojimbo''. Another particular case is the Inuwashi Gunjin, named so despite the fact that they have no apparent connection to Japan besides the name. (It actually means Golden Eagle Soldiers.)** In "Secret Origins part 2", Shredder is by a minion addressed as "dono-sama", which is roughly translatable as 'lord'. Its a title that was used in feudal Japan, which the episode in a way took place in. But its still a bit out of place when you consider the rest was spoken in English.* GreatEscape: The plot of "The Big House".* TheGreys: Bishop's initial abductors.* GuiltyPleasures: In-show variation with Hun. Running the Purple Dragons is one thing, but who would've thought he [[spoiler:plays the same MMORPG that Mikey does?]] Not to mention he, unknowingly, [[spoiler:met the Turtles in it and helped them get Splinter's data bits.]]* GunsAkimbo: Bishop occasionally uses guns in this manner.* HairColorDissonance: Particularly noticeable with Casey, whose hair is highlighted blue but is meant to be black.* HairDecorations: Starlee Hambrath and her hairband.* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: [[spoiler:The Demon Shredder]].* HalloweenEpisode: "All Hallows' Thieves."* HardWorkMontage: April and the Turtles get one as they build small sailcraft in "April's Artifact", complete with music.* HappilyMarried: Casey Jones and April O' Neil by the end of ''TurtlesForever''.* HeelFaceTurn: Bishop in Fast Forward.* HeelRealization: Raphael in "City at War part 3".* HeroOfAnotherStory: A few, but the most obvious is Silver Sentry and the Justice Force.* HeroKiller: The Shredder.* HeroesWantRedheads: Casey Jones with April O'Neil. The series even takes their relationship all the way as by the final season, they get married. April herself was much more of an obvious redhead than any previous incarnation as well.* HeroicSacrifice: Zog in "Rogue in the House", to defeat Shredder. Also cements his position as a {{Woobie}}, as much as a huge dino-man can be one. His efforts didn't stick, sadly.* HesBack: Happens to Leo twice: First during "Return to New York", when he confronts the Foot Elite which nearly killed him during their first encounter, and again as the conclusion to his season 4 character arc.* HiddenElfVillage: The Avian city in "A Wing and a Prayer".* HighAltitudeInterrogation: Leo does this to a random punk in "Dragons Rising".* HitFlash: Particularly notable in ''Fast Forward''.* HoldingHands: Karai does this to Chaplin at the end of Season Five.* HollywoodDarkness: Particularly notable in "Darkness at the Edge of Town", where the supposed darkness is a plot point.* HollywoodHealing: Occasionally averted. The Turtles and Splinter get the living crap beaten out of them in battle, and are bandaged and in pain for several episodes after that. The gouge in Leonardo's shell is also depicted consistently.* {{Hologram}}s: Very prominent in ''Fast Forward'', since it is the future and all* {{Homage}}: Very many to earlier TMNT media, but special mention to homages to the comics, which have entire storylines that homages to them. ''UsagiYojimbo'' also gets some homages with characters besides Usagi appearing. There are also a bunch of movie references of varying quality.* HookedUpAfterwards: Karai and Chaplin, after the season 5 finale hand-holding.* HumanAliens: Most members of the Federation army.* HumanPopsicle: Ch'rell, the Utrom Shredder, was banished to the ice asteroid belt of Mor Gal Tal at the end of "Exodus Part 2" after being found guilty by the Utrom council. And he was found frozen in ice and freed by 1987 Shredder in ''TurtlesForever''.* ICallItVera: Jack Marlin's laser rifle, Betsy.* ImprobableWeaponUser: Agent Bishop, including ''his tie''. He is basically of the "beat you down with anything handy" school of fighting.* ImprovisedWeapon: The turtles do this a couple of times.* InMediasRes[=/=]HowWeGotHere: A regular feature of the show's teasers.* {{Intangibility}}: The Street Phantoms, thanks to their capes* InternalHomage: The first four seasons included several recreations of scenes, issues, and story arcs from the Mirage comics, being the most direct adaptation of the original turtles ever created. For seasons 5-7 this became less of a thing.* InterspeciesRomance: Cody Jones/Starlee Hambrath (Human[=/=]Rubber Forehead Alien).* {{Irony}}: The episode "[=SuperQuest=]" shows that size doesn't matter for Hun.* ItWasADarkAndStormyNight: That was how Mickey wanted to begin the telling of a flashback in "The Lesson".* JapaneseHonorifics: One episode set in virtual-reality feudal Japan misuses these, where the Shredder is addressed as "dono-sama," which is roughly equivalent to calling someone "Lord Sir."* JerkassHasAPoint / WhatTheHellHero?: Raph's attitude during the "City at War" trilogy. WhatTheHellHero stems from the fact that he refuses to believe that the Turtles were responsible for New York's gang war between the Foot Clan, Purple Dragons, and the Mob and he sounds like he doesn't care about the innocent people who have been caught in the crossfire. This stems from his statement that the Turtles' involvement would only "add fuel to the fire", in other words, make the situation worse and to be honest, Raph wasn't wrong; apart from Leo saving a gang of mobsters from an exploding warehouse and evacuating a man trapped in a bus, the Turtles weren't making much progress to end the war until Karai showed up and offered a truce. * KabukiSounds: Particularly the "Ooowoooh!" whenever the Shredder appears.* {{Kappa}}: In the Demon Shredder's army--although they lack some of the characteristics of traditional kappa. The Turtles, as in other continuities, are also sometimes confused with them.* KarmaHoudini: Agent Bishop commits arguably some of the most horrific acts during the series and is never really punished for any of them.* KidsAreCruel[=/=]TeensAreMonsters: Casey and his geeky friend Steve were shown to be harassed by the neighborhood bullies until Casey [[TookALevelInBadass gave the leader a smackdown]]. * KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Savanti, Drako, the Foot Mystics, the Tengu and Cyber Shredder's, the Brotherhood, Hamato Yoshi, the leader of the Purple Dragons from the first episode, the Y'Lyntian Entity, the female fish-woman.]] As well as the ''millions'' that die off-screen thanks to the Shredder.* KingpinInHisGym: Oroku Saki does this in "Darkness at the Edge of Town". Karai is also introduced this way in "City at War, part 1"* KirbyDots: in the episode "The King" -- fitting, for an episode dedicated to the TropeNamer.* KnightOfCerebus: For ''Fast Forward'', Sh'Okanabo's appearances were more laced with seriousness and less comedy. One could also say the Shredder is this, as humor in the show is less prominent when he's around.* {{Koan}}: Splinter is fond of these. Subverted on one occasion when he had to explain what he was saying.--> '''Splinter''': Remember, my sons, even the mighty oak bows before the raging storm winds.--> '''Mikey''': Huh?--> '''Splinter''': Be careful and do not become overconfident!* KnowWhenToFoldThem: The Turtles sometimes invoke this, with Raph on one occasion settling on a "tactical retreat". This is also the Ancient One's first lesson, when a bitter Leo faces a losing battle against intangible demons.--> '''Leo''': To surrender is ''not'' the warrior's way!--> '''The Ancient One''': You won't be much of a warrior without a head!* LamePunReaction: Michelangelo's constant puns almost always trigger negative reactions from his brothers, ranging from groans, {{Facepalms}}, and derogatory looks, to outright physical punishment such as head-slaps, flicks and pulling the ties of his ninja mask. His brothers aren't immune to it either: on the rare occasions when one of them says a bad pun they'll almost always get a similar Lame Pun Reaction from another turtle, though it's typically not as aggressive as the reactions dished out on Mickey. * {{Laser Guided Tykebomb}}s: The turtle clones; the Shredder's Splinter-bot in "Rogue in the House".* LaserHallway: Used several times.* LastOfTheirKind: The Inuwashi Gunjin.* LateArrivalSpoiler: Several, with the Shredder's true nature being by far the most notable.* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: Had a very strong sense of continuity and had several episodes and arcs that were faithful adaptions of the original Mirage Comics up until season 4. Season 5 (The Lost Episodes) continued where season 4 left off but with an original mystical storyline and retcons to prior seasons. Season 6 (Fast Forward) was a Retool with the main cast getting flung 100 years into the future with a major tone shift from dramatic action to comedic action, and Season 7 (Back To The Sewer) was a retool bring them back to the present but losing a lot of the original charm and congruence with the comics that the first 4 seasons had, being more similar to Fast Forward's tone.* LavaIsBoilingKoolAid: "Return to the Underground."* LeftForDead: Happens to several characters, most often The Shredder.* LegacyCharacter: The Shredder, whose mythology is gradually revealed and expanded upon across the first five seasons of the show; The Turtle Titan.* {{Leitmotif}}s: Most prominent characters and groups have one.* LeParkour: The series gives more focus to the bros' acrobatics, especially when they're not using vehicles to trip through NYC.* LetsYouAndHimFight: Leonardo and Raphael get into this in episodes like "A Better Mousetrap" and "City At War".* LettingHerHairDown: Inversion: If April's hair isn't in her trademark bun the situation generally isn't good.* LonelyRichKid: Cody. Taken literally in ''Back to the Sewers'' when Serling is accidentaly sent back to the 21st Century with the turtles leaving Cody in his penthouse all by himself. * MagicalLand: The Battle Nexus, and later, The Hidden Land ("The Ancient One").* MakingASplash: Justice Force member Tsunami has this power set.* MarkedChange: Occurs when the turtles accessed their Ninja Tribunal powers in season 5.* MeaningfulName: Chikara's name is the Japanese word for "Power". Her specialty is physical strength.** In "Tale of Master Yoshi" it is revealed that Yoshi named his pet rat "Splinter" after The Ancient One warns him:-->'''The Ancient One''': "Vengeance is like a splinter: it gets under your skin and can poison your life"-->'''Hamato Yoshi''': [Later, to his pet rat] ...I will name you 'Splinter', to remind me of what I have done, and what I have failed to do. And together we will remind each other of Tang Shen* MeleeATrois: Several times, most notably in "City at War".** In "Return to New York," the Turtles v. Shredder v. Baxter Stockman. (The Turtles and Shredder [[EnemyMine immediately peg Baxter Stockman as the greater threat]], though they don't actually call a truce.)* MesACrowd: Nano, in his Justice Force form, is shown to do this in "Enter the Dragons pt. 2".* {{Microts}}: "Trigons".* MiniMecha: Turtle X, the Foot's Shred-naughts, and the main transport Dome-Bot used by both Dr. Dome and Ananda are all these.* MistakenForAliens: Occurs to the Turtles a lot, after the Triceraton invasion.* MistakenForQuake: Splinter is giving the turtles a lecture when their sewer home begin to shake. Michealangelo wonder if it is an earthquake, but Donatello answers that since they are in New York it's possible but not likely. Then the cause become clear when the Mad Scientist Baxter Stockmans mouser robots breaks through the wall and attack Splinter and the turtles. * MoralDissonance: The Turtles find a Triceraton that was accidentally teleported back to Earth with them in Season 2, a soldier named Zog. Since he can't breathe oxygen, he's delirious, and thinks that the Turtles and Splinter are commanding Triceraton officers. They save his life, but he's still delusional, and they wind up taking him on a mission to fight the Shredder, during which he dies. While the Turtles are saddened by his death, the fact that they knowingly and willingly manipulated a delusional alien by masking as his commanding officers, dragging him into a fight which is not his where he dies, and that if he were aware of who they were would consider them enemies and want to kill them is never addressed. This is taken directly from the original comics, though there it was part of the "Return To New York" storyline. The comic Turtles were always much more morally ambigous than their animated counterparts, so exploiting a delirious alien to get some extra muscle was completely in character there.* MobileSuitHuman: The Utroms utilize robotic exosuits to blend in.* MobWar: "City at War."* MonochromaticEyes: Everyone wearing a Shredder helmet. The Ninja Tribunal. Dr. Malignus.* MonowheelMayhem: In ''Fast Forward''* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Dr. Malignus.%% Mr Magoo And The Monster is now BlindAndTheBeast. Do not use defunct titles. Example is%% already present under the correct title.* TheMovie: ''TurtlesForever''.* MultipleHeadCase: Triple Threat, from ''Fast Forward''.* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Leatherhead says this almost word for word when he [[spoiler: attacks Michelangelo in a fit of uncontrollable rage, leaving him unconscious and fearing him badly hurt/dead. Don't worry though; Mickey was fine.]]** Leonardo also has an example of this in "The Ancient One", when he [[spoiler: loses control and injures Master Splinter.]] Although he doesn't actually say the line, the look on his face after it happens and his subsequent remorse show he was clearly shocked, and deeply regretted his actions.* MythologyGag: Several, most notably a cameo by an Utrom named Krang, and April's impersonation of a reporter, complete with a familiar-looking yellow jumpsuit.** [[NinjaTurtlesTheNextMutation Raphael also had a motorcycle in this series]].** The warehouse where the Turtles keep the Battle-Shell is at the corner of "Eastman and Laird."** Another reporter can be seen in "Web Wranglers", during a story from "Channel 6 News". Coincidentally, she seems to be wearing a canary yellow jacket. ** It's [[StealthPun never explicitly pointed out]] but at one point during season 5, there's a joke about the CompetitiveBalance from the games. In a speed test, [[FragileSpeedster Mikey]] blasts off after Hisomi, [[JackOfAllStats Leo]] and [[GlassCannon Raph]] keep a relatively even pace, and [[MightyGlacier Don]] brings up the tail end, chatting enthusiastically with his running partner and [[LampshadeHanging noting how unlikely it is that they're going to catch up.]]-->'''Donnie:''' Um, we're not going to catch Hisomi today, are we?-->'''Adam:''' I don't see that happening.*** Earlier in the same episode, there's a test of strength that Raph and Don ace, but Mikey and Leo don't, making this an episode-long gag.* NamedWeapons: The sword of Tengu; The Fangs of the Dragons.* {{Nanomachines}}: Used to create Nano.* NeverSayDie: Inconsistently applied, despite the considerable amount of explicit deaths. While there are occasionally lines like "You cannot kill the dead!" there are numerous instances where the word "dead" is replaced by much more awkward synonyms or euphemisms--heck, what is Shredder's trademark line of "None of you will leave here alive" but a sanitized version of "you will all die"?** A notable example of this trope being averted outright is in the episode "Same As It Never Was", where upon saving the life of a time-traveling Donatello, Future Mikey says that the rest of the Turtles "thought [he was] dead".* NewNeoCity: New York in ''Fast Forward''.* NiceGuy: Dr. Chaplin, even though working for the Foot makes him a villain.* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Twice: the first sets up the "City at War" arc, while the second sets up the Ninja Tribunal arc.* NiceHat: The Turtles' (not counting Leo) opinions of the Foot Elite Guard upon first seeing them.-->'''Donatello''': Say what you will about the Foot, but they do not skimp on the headgear.** It should be noted that Mike and Don say this after seeing four uber badass looking ninja assassins waiting for them. The compliment was clearly intended to distract\placate them as they retreat.* TheNightThatNeverEnds: The linchpin of Sh'Okanabo's plan in "Day of Awakening".* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: The end of "The Shredder Strikes Back, pt. 1". "Exodus, pt. 2".** In "Exodus, Part I", Leatherhead finally comes face to face with the Shredder. Enough said.* NoodleIncident: A subversion occurs in the final episode of ''Fast Forward''. Torbin Zixx mentions that he lost his spaceship because of an incident that happened to the Utrom ambassador's wife. When the Turtles look at him funny, he simply responds with "Look, was it my fault she was standing near the sushi bar?" It is a subversion because it turns out that he still had his ship and was lying.** Interestingly enough, this trope was played straight when a similar incident to the above was mentioned in [[GrandFinale "Wedding Bells and Bytes"]], where an Utrom informs Mortu that there is no sushi at the wedding, Mortu mentioning that the last time he was near sushi he ended up smelling like soy sauce.* NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup: The Shredder's spaceship in season 3; justified in that it's built from parts salvaged from an alien invasion, including some that could not be replicated with available Earth technology.* NoYou: Karai's not very good at trash-talking. She does this several times to the Tengu Shredder.* NotADate: Casey and April insist their late-night jaunt to Coney Island is this. [[HeIsNotMyBoyfriend They're both in complete denial though.]]* NotSoAboveItAll: April and Splinter both have moments where they sink down to the Turtles' level of silliness. For April most notably in "April's Artifact" where she gets ''waaay'' into the JunglePrincess role and "The Christmas Aliens" where she sticks a spoon on her nose and grins stupidly. As for Splinter, he loves his soap operas, beats out Casey and Raph in poker, snarks periodically about his sons' antics, and even cracks a joke here and there.* NothingButSkulls: The mass grave in the episode "The Trouble With Augie".* OffhandBackhand: When the Shredder and the Foot Ninja attack April's antique shop, Master Splinter smacked a Foot Soldier with his stick without even turning back. He does this again to another Foot ninja when Karai invades the Lair and maybe once more at one point in between. * OhCrap: The Shredder gets this when he realizes he shouldn't have let Splinter cut the posts holding up the water tower.** And again when the tower's about to fall right on top of him.** Hun does this really well when he gets these moments, even combining them with his {{Catchphrase}} "Oh, crud," which comes close enough to OhCrap.** To be fair, the 2003 series DEFINITELY loves this trope.* OldHeroNewPals: the ''Fast Forward'' season sends the Turtles and Splinter to the future, where they meet new people.* OldMaster: The Ancient One. Splinter, obviously.* TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The Utrom navigators. Subverted by the Ninja Tribunal.* OmniscientMoralityLicense: The immortal Ninja Tribunal gets away with allowing everything that had transpired thus far throughout the series to occur, because according to them, it all had to happen that way for the demon Shredder to be killed.* OneWingedAngel: The Demon Shredder's dragon form. The Turtles' and the Ninja Tribunal's respective Dragon forms may also apply.* OutGambitted: Bishop is completely played for a fool by the [[spoiler: Foot Mystics, who use him to free them from Karai's hold.]] * OutOfTheInferno: The Shredder does this during his first fight with the Turtles, later revealed to be because [[spoiler: he's an Utrom in an exosuit.]]* OverprotectiveDad: Casey's mom.** And there's obviously Splinter, not just towards the turtles but also towards April, Casey, and Cody (who also has Serling).* PairTheSmartOnes: Cody and Starlee in ''Fast Forward''.* PapaWolf: Splinter for the Turtles, and Serling for Cody.* ParentsInDistress: For all of the times Splinter has rescued his sons, he has to be rescued by them often as well.* ParentalAbandonment: To the point where only one character--Starlee Hambrath, in case you're counting--is known to have been raised by both biological parents.* PetTheDog: Saki's adoption of Karai. Even if he may have had ulterior motives for raising her, it's [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming very nice]] to even think about that little flashback. Karai explicitly refers to him as a good father and seems to have had a happy life being raised by him, the genocidal psychopath he is.** Bishop and the Rat King are both seen watching Casey and April's wedding with seemingly genuine approval.* PhysicalGod: The Ninja Tribunal; The Demon Shredder.* PineappleSurprise: In one of the less family-friendly (and most awesome) moments of the Space Invaders arc, Michelangelo does this to a Triceraton soldier. -->'''Mikey:''' [[PreMortemOneLiner "Hey, do these work like earth grenades?"]] * PlaceOfPower[=/=]{{Ley Line}}s: The Statue of Liberty, The U.N. Building, and Manny's Meats were all located near Ley Line nodes, as revealed in the episode "Past and Present".* PlagueOfGoodFortune: This is how Michelangelo became the Battle Nexus champion.* PoliceAreUseless: In ''Fast Forward''.* {{Posthumous Character}}s: All three characters in the Hamato Yoshi/Yukio Mashimi/Tang Shen love triangle.* PoweredArmor: Baxter Stockman and Darius Dun occasionally wear these.* PowerGlows: The Sword of Tengu, when in use. Also the Guardians' weapons.* PragmaticAdaptation* PreemptiveApology: In "Sons of the Silent Age".-->'''Donatello''': We don't have time for this! Please accept my apology.-->'''Worker''': For what?-->'''Donatello''': For this. (hits the worker with his bo.)* PrivateEyeMonologue: In the beginning of each episode, except on seasons 6 and 7.* TheProfessor: Lots. Lampshaded early into the third season, when Professor Honeycutt and the homeless Professor constantly get mixed up whenever Donnie tries to address one of them.* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Zig-zagged. While there are instances in which the protagonists get smacked down with the realization that not everything is about them, the series is often quite willing to color the Turtles' actions as heroic or neutral, even when they have damaging consequences.* [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Race]]: The Inuwashi Gunjin. The Triceratons, to a lesser and less uniform extent.* ProWrestlingIsReal: In ''Fast Forward'', Pro Wrestling has ''become'' a legit sport. However, being from the past, Raphael is unaware of this and treats it like its all a show, at least until he gets his shell kicked by a disgruntled wrestler.* PunchClockVillain: Dr. Chaplin.* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Is it any surprise that Hun has at least one moment of this? Hun: "Arrrrrgh! Go away! WE! PLACED! NO! ORDER!"* PungeonMaster: Michelangelo, much to his brothers' continued annoyance.* ThePsychoRangers: The Dark Turtles.* QuirkyMinibossSquad: The Dark Turtles.* RaceLift: One-shot villain Skonk, who was turned from black to white.** A (possibly unintentional) in-universe example can be found in "Samurai Tourist": Michelangelo shows Gen a comic book issue about the Silver Sentry, and on the cover, Silver Sentry appears white, though the actual Silver Sentry we see in the series is black.* RaiseHimRightThisTime: Ultimately occurs to [[spoiler:The Ultimate Ninja.]]* RaisedHandOfSurvival: In one episode, Splinter defeats the Shredder by collapsing a water tower which washes Shredder off the side of the building they were fighting on and then falls off the building, landing on his prone body. The final shot of the episode is of Shredder's extended fist punching its way out of the debris. * RealAfterAll: A variation of the trope occurs in the episode "Monster Hunter", with a Bigfoot-like creature living in Northampton.* RearingHorse: Happens a couple of times. The Tengu Shredder does this on his HellishHorse in "Enter the Dragons Part 2". Happens again with a regular horse in "Tempus Fugit", when Viral sends the Turtles back to the medieval ages* RecurringCharacter: Tons, many of which return for both the fifth and seventh season finales for massive battles.* {{Retool}}: For ''Fast Forward'' and ''Back to the Sewer''.* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: The Turtles were believed to have been destroyed with [[spoiler: the Shredder's starship]], and gradually make their survival known during the early parts of the fourth season.* ResistTheBeast: Happens to [[spoiler: Donatello in "Adventures in Turtle Sitting". He even begs April and Casey to "stay away from" him as he runs off, before he mutates fully and starts to attack them.]]* TheReveal: In "Secret Origins", the Utroms' presence on Earth is made known, as is their benevolence and relation to the Guardians. However, the two biggest reveals of the series relate to the Shredder and the mythology of the character. [[spoiler: The climax of "Secret Origins" reveals that the Shredder is actually an Utrom warmonger named Ch'Rell (though his Utrom name wouldn't be revealed until a season later) who's been on Earth for a millennia, biding his time to take his vengeance on the Utroms. Then three seasons later, it's revealed that Ch'Rell took the name Oroku Saki from the legend of the '''true''' Shredder, a Tengu demon fused with the ancient warrior Oroku Saki.]]* RetCanon: The show influenced the original comic book in several ways, mostly involving Casey's backstory.* RollerbladeGood: Starlee Hambrath's ubiquitous inline skates.* RobeAndWizardHat: Donnie in "[=SuperQuest=]".* RubberForeheadAliens* RunningGag: Whenever the Turtles are at the antique shop, they're going to break priceless antiques.* SamusIsAGirl: Occurs with the mutated human Quarry, who is assumed to be a guy until returned to her human form.* ScarsAreForever: Hun sports a trio of matching scars on his face, courtesy of a pre-mutation Splinter.** Leo's shell-gouge stays with him through the end of the Demon Shredder arc. He loses it with the ArtShift.* SceneryPorn: The hidden land in "The Ancient One", whose background feature an art shift, to boot.* SdrawkcabName: Mortu (Utrom). Also, Kluh and Ammag from the planet Levram, for a particular type of shout out.* SecretTestOfCharacter: The Ninja Tribunal's first test.** Casey's mother meeting April too* SerialProstheses: Baxter Stockman, thanks to the Shredder's attitude towards failure. He loses an eye, a hand, and ends up in a wheelchair before trying to take his revenge in a MiniMecha. When that fails, he's reduced to a head attached to a robot. It gets worse from there.* SeriesContinuityError: In "Insane in the Membrane," April is shown working in the underground lab in Stocktronics, despite the fact in "A Better Mousetrap," she doesn't even know about it. Of course, this episode does take place from the point of view of a man slowly going insane, so it's possible Stockman's memory is faulty.* SeriesFauxnale: Originally the two part episode "Enter the Dragons" was supposed to be the conclusion of the series. However, with the ''Fast Forward'' season being released early it isn't anymore.* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Donatello, being the smart turtle, is particularly fond of this. A notable example is in "The Shredder Strikes Back, Part 1", when he and Raphael are watching a football match on television.--> '''Raphael''': 'Panthers', 'Rams', 'Bears', they even got 'Dolphins'. You'd think they'd have room for something a little more...reptilian.-->'''Donatello''': The 'Turtles'? My friend, unfortunately the lowly turtle has been saddled by society with the stereotype of being velocity challenged.-->'''Raphael''': Say what?* SelfParody: On an alien planet, the Turtles come across a turtle ninja master with four teenage mutant ninja rats. One of them says [[CatchPhrase cowabunga]] in his alien language, complete with subtitles. The ninja rats get two boss fights in the ''Battle Nexus'' game.* SheatheYourSword: The Ancient One's first lesson, in "The Ancient One".* ShoutOut: So, ''so'' many of them. Mostly from Mikey.** Baxter Stockman's automated response he's programmed into the Shredder's computer system in "Exodus Part Two" is a clear nod to ''JurassicPark''** Also his line in ''[[Recap/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003S1E23ReturnToNewYorkPart3 Return to New York Part 3]]'':--> I've [[JurassicPark spared no expense]]. And why should I? After all, you were footing the bill, Shredder!** Serling's greeting of "[[TheTerminator Come with me if you want to live]]".** One denizen of future New York is an {{expy}} of 1987 Bebop.** Chaplin looks awfully familiar, doesn't he?** One of the monsters in "Notes From the Underground" is a dead ringer for obscure Eastman/Laird character Carnage.** April O'Neil isn't a news reporter and doesn't have the same design as her '80s/early '90s cartoon counterpart, but in "Web Wranglers" there is a female news reporter with short brown hair and a yellow jacket.** This gets combined with HurricaneOfPuns in episode 2. While trying to figure out the name of their new home, Don and Mikey have this discussion, after Don hears Mikey's first suggestion.-->Don: [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Turtlecave? That is so lame.]]-->Mikey: And what would you call our new digs? The Shellter?-->Don: [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Uhh... how about the sewer of solitude?]]-->Mikey: [[TheGratefulDead Terrapin Station?]]-->Don: [[Franchise/{{X-Men}} The School for Gifted Reptiles?]]-->Mikey: [[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica The Hall of Ninjustice!]]** In "Tale of Master Yoshi," two of Yoshi's outfits are an homage to Bruce Lee, the yellow jumpsuit from Game of Death, and the black uniform from Enter the Dragon.** When the Turtles are down, April attacks an insect queen while saying "[[Film/{{Aliens}} Get away from them, you]] [[WitchWithACapitalB witch]]!"** In "The Search for Splinter Part 2" a couple of Utrom's are discussing how much they dislike one of their compatriots named Newman. One of them exclaims angrily "[[{{Seinfeld}} Newmannnn!]]"** April says to Casey, [[BarbWire "Don't call me Babe"]].** In [[Recap/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003S3E1SpaceInvadersPart1 Space Invaders Part 1]]:--> '''Mikey:''' It's TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, [[{{Music/REM}} and I don't feel fine]].** In "Samurai Tourist", Gen, an anthro rhino, is impressed by a New Yorker's outfit and gets his own set. He ends up looking like Rocksteady.** In "The Big House", Raphael's battle cry is [[{{WesternAnimation/TheTick}} "Spooooooon!"]]** In the opening credits, Raphael slides his bike away from the camera just like [[{{Manga/Akira}} Kaneda]]. The original teaser for the show even had similar lightning effect for that part, but it was removed in the finished product.** During "Playtime's Over" (Fast Forward season) Mikey tells Cody [[{{Batman}} "Quick Robin, to the Shellmobile!"]]** When looking for a way off a planet, Professor Honeycutt suggest hiring [[Franchise/StarWars Han Solo and Chewbacca]] expies.* ShoutOutThemeNaming: Kluh, Ammag, and planet Levram.** Also, the abandoned warehouse that serves as the Turtles' garage is on the corner of Eastman and Laird.* SigilSpam: [[TheSyndicate The Foot's]] tendency to plaster its logo everywhere made for a minor wall banger, as the organization's dragon claw symbol was also used in its legitimate operations, meaning that anyone who got a good look at a Foot Ninja would see the symbol adorning the Foot's very visible skyscraper base and put two and two together without effort.* SignificantAnagram: C.F. Volpehart[=/=]Creator/HPLovecraft.* SingleStrokeBattle: Occurs once between Leonardo and the Shredder in "Return to New York", and again with Hamato Yoshi and Yukio Mashimi in "Tale of Master Yoshi".* SmugSnake: Darius Dunn of the ''Fast Forward'' season is surprisingly arrogant for a ManipulativeBastard and master of deception as Splinter calls him, seeing how he treats his mooks poorly when they fail him and sometimes even berates them for their stupidity. He didn't even take too well to the Inuwashi Gunjin's disobedience towards him when they said that they were no longer under his command after capturing Cody for the first time. And he really lost it when he finally lost control over his Gunjin slaves. So yeah, he's reduced to a screaming mess when things go wrong with his plans. Of course, in the final scene of the "DNA is Thicker Than Water" episode, he does pull off a PetTheDog moment for the Dark Turtles by giving them another piece of steak to fight over even though they failed to destroy the real turtles for him.* SoLastSeason: Beginning with season 5, with the weapons and items used by the turtles. Lampshaded in ''Timing Is Everything'', when the Turtles deal a quick defeat to the Shredder (who had unwittingly travelled in time to the future from the first season of the show).* SophisticatedAsHell: Goes hand in hand with Splinters GentlemanSnarker.* SpaceJews: Starlee's family, especially her mother.* SparedByTheAdaptation: Prime Leader Zanramon--at least until it was revealed that he hadn't died at all.** Also Nobody; he was killed in the comics 3rd arc, eaten by a mutant monster. * {{Spoiled Sweet}}: Cody. He live in a luxurious penthouse, has a robot butler who waits on him hand and foot and is overprotective of him, the president of his own corporation, has all the video games any teenager could ever want, and his own private laboratory. Yet, Cody doesn't exhibit any spoiled brat characteristics apart from disobeying Sterling by sneaking out even though 'the outside world is a dangeroud place for him'. He feels responsible for his mistake bringing the Turtles and Splinter into the future and does his best to fix the Time Window to send them back (even though he's excited to have them around). * StableTimeLoop: In "Timing is Everything." The episode heavily implies that the Shredder's defeat in this episode attributed to his desire to eliminate the Turtles by any means possible from then on. This is because the Shredder that appeared here had just gone through the events of "The Shredder Strikes, Part 2," and learned that the turtles would one day be strong enough to defeat him, embedding a deep fear that would cause his eventual fall.--> '''Raphael''': "We put the kabosh on you a long time ago! You're history!"* TheStarscream: Dr. Stockman to the Shredder, until he finally defects to the Earth Protection Force in the third season finale.** In the following season, the Foot Mystics become this to Karai.* StealthPun: In "Same As It Never Was", [[spoiler: the Shredder is destroyed by the Turtle Tunneler, that is to say, ''shredded'']].* StolenMacGuffinReveal: In "Fast Forward."* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: In the episode, "The Shredder Strikes Back, Part 2", Michelangelo says to the Foot Elite ninjas "Nice hats!". 35 seconds later, Donatello says the same thing. Then another minute later, Raphael shows up:--> '''Raph''': [''to the ninjas''] Nice hats.--> '''Mikey''': Yeah. We thought so too.--> '''Don''': Say what you will about the Foot, but they do not skimp on the headgear.* StrappedToAnOperatingTable:** Raph, by Hun, in "The Way of Invisibility".** The Foot's "volunteers" in "Notes From the Underground".** The turtles, by Bishop, in "Worlds Collide, pt. 2" (and by implication, Leatherhead).** Master Splinter in "Bishop's Gambit"** The President of the United States, by Bishop's aliens in "Aliens Among Us"** Bishop himself in "Head of State"* StrippedToTheBone: Occurs to Agent Bishop's body after his mind is transferred into a new one.* StormingTheCastle: Happens a number of times with the Foot Headquarters* StoryArc* SwordOverHead: Karai does this to one of the defeated Foot Elite at the end of "City at War."* TakenForGranite[=/=]LiterallyShatteredLives: [[spoiler:Drako and The Ultimate Ninja]]* TakingYouWithMe: The Shredder is wont to do this. Also attempted by the Turtles in the episode "Exodus."* TalkingToHimself: Three of the Shredders in this series are voiced by the same person, Scottie Ray. The Utrom Shredder, the Tengu Shredder and the Cyber Shredder. There's an in-universe reason for this however; the Tengu Shredder is the original Oroku Saki from ancient Japan, whom the Utrom Shredder, Ch'rell (the main BigBad of the series) based his human persona on, and the Cyber Shredder is a virtual manifestation of Ch'rell combined with Viral.* TheTeam: The Turtles and their main allies** TheLeader: Leonardo** TheLancer: Raphael** TheSmartGuy: Donatello** FunPersonified: Michelangelo** TheBigGuy: Casey Jones** TheChick: April O'Neil** MentorArchetype: Splinter* TechnoBabble: Commonly crops up when particularly smart characters, such as Donatello, Leatherhead or April, start talking science. PlayedForLaughs in "April's Artifact", when April and Don's conversation is so full of technical jargon that it prompts Michelangelo to ask:--> '''Michelangelo''' Do you guys come with subtitles?* TechnologicalPacifist: O'Neil Tech, in theory.* TeenGenius: Obviously Donatello, also Cody Jones and Starlee Hambrath.* TemporarilyAVillain: Casey in "Karate Schooled", April in "The Engagement Ring", and the Turtles in "Identity Crisis". * TemporaryBlindness: In "Lone Raph and Cub."* TemptingFate:--> '''Honeycutt:''' Well gentlemen, it should be fairly smooth sailing from here on. ''[[CliffHanger (Triceraton fleet shows up)]]'' Later: "Well gentlemen, I'd say the difficult part is over." ''[[CliffHanger (Federation fleet shows up)]]''* ThatCameOutWrong: Casey's marriage proposal to April;-->'''Casey''': April, I love you like... like Gretzky loves hockey, and [[AccidentalInnuendo I wanna play you for the rest of my life...]]- Dah! I mean your life! I-I mean Gretsky's life! - I mean-* ThemeTuneRollCall: The theme for the fourth and fifth seasons.* TheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Despite sometimes being a jerk to his brothers, Raphael is very protective of them.* ThisCannotBe: Being a jerkass in his own right, the Shredder is so confident about his remarkable power and his belief in fighting only to win that he loves using this trope when he's defeated.-->'''Shredder''': Guh... this can't be happening... I cannot lose!** Also, Sh'Okanabo finds out that the Kanabo drones can be reverted back to their previous normal selves by sunlight. And he doesn't take that too well.--->'''Sh'Okanabo''': (after going back to his spaceship) This is impossible! The Kanabo have thrived before on countless planets under countless suns.* ThisIsUnforgivable: As mentioned before, Raph doesn't take too well to having been paralyzed by one of the hornets in the episode "April's Artifiact".-->'''Raphael''': [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Bugs... must... PAY!]]** And in later episode "Same as it Never Was", after stating a BigNo upon watching the Karai Legions kill Future Mike to his horror, Don gets pushed too far. His response? "You'll pay for this, Shredder! If it's the last thing I do, YOU WILL PAY!"*** Same episode sees Future Leo cut down by Future Karai while his back was turned. An enraged future Raph clearly tries to kill her for it.* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Mr. Touch and Mr. Go.* TimeBomb: Averted throughout the series. If a villain activates a time bomb or any other type of explosive, it will go off. The only time it was played straight was in "Turtle X-Tinction" where [[PapaWolf Serling]] prevents Turtle X from exploding at the last second. * TimeSkip: ''Fast Forward'' takes place in the year 2105, roughly ninety-nine years from the present day, while ''Back To The Sewer'' takes place one year after the day the turtles were transported to the future.* TimeTravelTenseTrouble: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nPjFRsJGqA This.]]* TitleThemeTune* TonightSomeoneDies: Used in the initial promo for "Exodus, pt. 2", albeit with the less-precise "you'll never see one of these characters again".** To be fair, after Shredder's exile, the show probably though he wasn't going to come back.* TookALevelInBadass: April in season 3, when Splinter teaches her martial arts. Casey undergoes a bit of this in ''Back to the Sewer'' when training under [[TheDragon Master Khan]] (he manages to sneak attack and take down all four of the Turtles in this episode) but brainwashing is involved and the show doesn't give any strong indication of whether he retained his newfound fighting skills afterwards.** However, Casey still applies to this trope as it was revealed that when he was young, Casey lacked the confidence he shows as an adult, until the Turtles trained him to be assertive.** In Season 4, Hun transforms the Purple Dragons from a petty street gang working for the Foot into a far more sophisticated organization operating on its own.* TookALevelInKindness: It's more so "losing a level in jerkass", but by ''Back to the Sewers'', Raph was no longer beating up Mikey or challenging Leo's authority, though he still flung a few insults here and there and even those were reduced. ** Cousin Sid returns in the final episode after previously nearly getting Casey and April killed while trying to get money for the Purple Dragons, and is BackToBackBadasses with Casey for some time.* ToServeMan: The motivation of one-shot villain group "The Brotherhood". Donny even directly references the infamous ''Twilight Zone'' episode.* TournamentArc: "The Big Brawl".* TraintopBattle: The Turtles regularly fight their foes on the tops of moving vehicles, most usually trucks and vans.* TransformingMecha: Serling, after he is modified to become the second Turtle X.* TricksterMentor: The Ancient One, initially.* UltimateGamer386: In the episode "[=SuperQuest=]". Trope namer.* UncannyFamilyResemblance: Turtle Titan II to Silver Sentry (grandson/grandfather). Also, Ananda to Battling Bernice (daughter/mother), as in the comic books.* UnderTheMistletoe: In the episode "The Christmas Aliens", with Casey and April.* UnequalPairing: Karai and Dr. Chaplin, and to a lesser extent, Cody Jones and Starlee Hambrath. Both are canon.* UnnamedParent: Casey's mom.* UnexplainedRecovery:** The Battle Nexus Gyoji gets sucked into the vortex created by the Daimyo's warstaff in "The Big Brawl, Part 4", but is seen alive and well in a later episode (though the first time the character reappears, he turns out to be the Ultimate Drako in disguise).** In a somewhat less extreme case, Hun and Leatherhead both appear to [[DisneyVillainDeath fall to their doom]] in ''"Exodus, Part 1"''. They both appear later with no explanation of how they survived or what happened to them immediately after the episode. Granted, their fall was indoors and it is rather hard to determine how far they fell (and unlike the Gyoji, it is rather doubtful that the writers intended this to be their death).* UnreliableNarrator: Zog's narration of the events of "Rogue in the House, Pt. 2".* UnsportsmanlikeGloating: Michelangelo's preferred method of handling victory.* VagueAge* VictoryGuidedAmnesia: "Fathers and Sons" revealed that the Turtles helped defeat a servant of the Foot Mystics when they were very young, but the Ninja Tribunal insisted on erasing all their memories of it.* VillainEpisode: "Hun On the Run", "Aliens Among Us", and "Insane in the Membrane", for Hun, Bishop, and Baxter, respectively.* VillainExitStageLeft: Bishop often does this, but typically escapes in a way that the Turtles can't follow him.* VillainTeamUp: Happens a couple of times. The most obvious example is in "Bad Day", although [[spoiler: the events of this episode were mostly just a mystical illusion]]* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Oroku Saki and Karai. Darius Dun.* TheVirus: Sh'Okanabo and his Gene Eggs.* TheVoiceless: Hisomi Shisho, as embodiment of Stealth, does not speak.* VoiceOfTheLegion: The Ultimate Drako. April O'Neil in "The Engagement Ring".* VolleyingInsults: Between Casey and Raph, in "The Way of Invisibility".* WaifFu: April sometimes demonstrates martial arts skills, after being trained by Splinter.* WalkingAwayShot: in the episode "The Christmas Aliens" with Mikey going back into the sewer and into the lair* WaterTowerDown: The Turtles obtain their first victory over the Shredder in this manner.* WeaksauceWeakness: Sh'Okanabo's drones and their weakness to...sunlight.** Actually there's something about the combination of Earth's atmosphere and the planet's sunshine that does it as it didn't happen on other worlds.* WeddingDay: Series finale "Wedding Bells and Bytes". Lampshaded by Michelangelo:--> "Every series eventually does a wedding episode, dude!"* WeddingSmashers: Face it, the moment Casey proposed to April, you knew this was coming.* WeirdnessMagnet: Noted several times:--> '''Michelangelo:''' How come all the weird stuff always happens to ''us''? I mean, we were just minding our own business, when WHAM, that time lady fell out of the sky, right on top of us! Now we're stuck here AND we've gotta go to that creepy-loking place! It just doesn't seem fair!!!* WeirdnessSearchAndRescue: In ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'' (as well as the comic) there's a character called Lord Simultaneous who holds the time scepter and generally manages time with his incompetent assistant Renet. He's even voiced like a New York tour guide, and has been key to helping our heroes out of time displacement related predicaments more than once (to the point of DeusExMachina). Read more [[http://tmnt.wikia.com/wiki/Lord_Simultaneous here]].* WeNeedADistraction: In order to let April enter the T.C.R.I. building, in "The Search for Splinter, pt. 1".* WhamEpisode: For one, "The Shredder Strikes Back".** "Secret Origins" - The Utroms are revealed, as is the Shredder's true nature [[spoiler:as being one himself]], and the Turtles are finally home from space and reunited with Splinter.** The "Space Invaders" and "Worlds Collide" multi-parter is probably ''the'' Wham Episode of the entire series. The Triceraton-Federation war is brought to Earth, and the effects are felt for the remainder of the show until Fast Forward. Agent Bishop debuts as a major antagonist, the Professor is seemingly [[spoiler: killed]], and the Tricerations [[spoiler: pull a HeelFaceTurn under Traximus' new leadership, and end their feud with the Federation.]]** "Exodus" - the [[spoiler: Utrom Shredder is finally defeated and banished to the far reaches of space.]] Leonardo is left with lasting emotional wounds; Hun cuts ties with the Foot after learning the Shredder's true nature; Stockman also leaves the Foot to join Bishop, who is also under fire for attacking Shredder's mansion; and Karai is left to take over the Foot.** The two episode arc consisting of "Scion of the Shredder" and "Prodigal Son" count. The Turtles' Lair [[spoiler: [[TrashTheSet is destroyed]], and the group is scattered to the winds, having lost many sentimental items such as [[{{Tearjerker}} Yoshi's orb]], Mikey's Battle Nexus trophy, and most of the Turtles' vehicles - all thanks to Karai's ascension to become the new Shredder. Leo returns, reunites his family, and finds them a new home.]]** "Beginning of the End" - the Foot Mystics successfully [[spoiler: destroy the Ninja Tribunal's monastery, wiping out the four other acolytes and the Tribunal themselves, and gaining all artifacts neccesary to revive the Tengu Shredder.]]** "The Fall of Darius Dunn" - Dunn's true nature is revealed to Cody, who is able to kick him out of O'Neil tech, and is forced to become the new CEO himself.* WhatHappenedToTheMouse?: After the "Secret Origins" trilogy, the Guardians were never seen again except via flashback. It's implied that they went with the Utroms to their home world, or simply reintegrated into human society, but it's never actually stated.* WhatTheHellHero: In "Meet Casey Jones", Leo and Don call Raph out when he loses his temper and almost attacks Mikey with a metal pipe.-->'''Leonardo''': Raphael! Have you lost your mind?!-->'''Donatello''': You OK, Mikey? What were you thinking, Raph?!** The roles are reversed when Raph calls Leo out a couple of seasons later in 'The Ancient One' for [[spoiler: injuring Master Splinter when Leo loses control in a fit of rage.]] -->'''Raphael''': Leo, what the shell is your problem?!* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Lots: "Tales of Leo", "The Lesson", "Tale of Master Yoshi", "Legend of the Five Dragons", and "Fathers and Sons".* WhosOnFirst: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVz_WRNSrd0&feature=related This short.]]* WhyWontYouDie: Let's face it, the Shredder comes back regardless of defeat. In "Bad Day", Mikey says this verbatim:-->'''Michelangelo''': How many times do we have to get rid of this guy?* WildCard: ''Fast Forward's'' Torbin Zixx, as well as Karai.* WingedHumanoid: The Avians.* WithThisRing: I will turn you into a demon. ("The Engagement Ring")* TheWorfEffect: Any storyline involving the Justice Force, as a group or individually, will involve them needing the Turtles to help them. The one time they ''didn't'' team up with the Turtles against the threat (the Triceraton Invasion), they got their [[CurbstompBattle asses kicked]]. It's finally subverted when in the final episode, the Justice Force's arrival is able to tip the tide in the Turtles' allies favor in a massive battle agains the Foot.** The final episode depicts the Cyber Shredder launching a massive assault on Casey and April's wedding with hundreds of Foot Ninja, and the Foot appear to be winning for the majority of the battle. Keep in mind, the guests present at the Turtles' wedding include ancient ninja masters who qualify as gods, advanced alien races, plenty of BadassNormal 's, a mutant alligator, a samurai rabbit and rhino, robots from a century in the future, and more. Glaringly, we see Cyber Shredder casually backhand Kon Shisho himself.* WonderTwinPowers: Mr. Touch and Mr. Go.* WouldHurtAChild: As toddlers, the Turtles met a Bone Demon and when he was in the middle of squeezing the life out of Splinter and The Ancient One, he threatened the Turtle Tots with [[FateWorseThanDeath a worse fate]]. ** Some of the Fast Forward villains have no problem with hurting Cody. ** And in ''Back To The Sewers'', the Turtle Tots meet an old man who unleashes an army of deadly toy robots and a life sized one to attack them. * WouldHitAGirl: Hun was planning on killing April in "The Shredder Strikes Back Part 2" hoping the Turtles' would lose their will to fight with her gone, and in "City At War Part 3", Hun picks up a support beam and uses it to smack Karai around. ** For that matter, the Turtles have no problems with attacking Karai, although to be fair, she is more than capable of holding her own in a fight.* WreckedWeapon: Done to Leonardo's swords in the episode "The Shredder Strikes Back, Part 1", as the climax to the ass-kicking the character gets in that episode. And again in "Big Brawl, part 1" by a Gom-Tai. ** Donatello also gets his bo staff broken a number of times.* WriteBackToTheFuture: Used in the ''Fast Forward'' episode "Timing is Everything", coming into play before Donny (the writer) actually got stuck in the past.* YankTheDogsChain: "Insane in the Membrane" for Baxter Stockman.* YawnAndReach: Casey, to April, in "The People's Choice".* YouCantFightFate: "Timing Is Everything" heavily implies that the events of this episode is the reason why the Shredder became so ruthless in his hunt for the Turtles after the events of "The Shredder Strikes, Part 2." He learned of his defeat at their hands, and resolved to never let it happen -- making his fate inevitable.* YouDidEverythingYouCould: The key realization that shakes Leo from his season 4 funk.* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Sydney/Quarry. Mr. Mortu.* YouHaveFailedMe: The Shredder ''constantly'' does this, with Baxter Stockman as the most obvious and frequent example.** Similarly, the Demon Shredder's heralds do this to the fish tengu for failing them in the beginning of the "Legend of the Five Dragons" episode.* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Raph loves using this.* YouMonster:** "I have faced many monsters in the past, but it takes a special kind to direct such vile hatred towards a child."** In the ''"Head of State"'' episode, Leo points out that in Bishop's world, nobody's considered a monster based on their appearance, only based on how they act, and asks Stockman if he wants to use his inventions to create or destroy. Stockman later chooses to create after Bishop, being the changed man he is in ''Fast Forward'', rescues him to make up for his failure to save him some time in the past, which, no doubt, led to his redemption.* YourMindMakesItReal: A feature of the Utrom virtual reality program shown in "Secret Origins".* YuppieCouple: A pair of police officers resembling TMNT creators Eastman and Laird occasionally show up whenever the 2003 series needs a cop in the background.----